Jupiter, First Try

[xa-coupe (Jeff)]

Not happy at all with this image but it represents another first. I got myself a SVBONY205 (yeah, I know.. but it was cheap and I wanted to find out what the story with using a video for stacking was without spending lots of money) on my 90mm refractor.

To cut a long story short, I got 22gb of video (some 975 frames) and this is the best I can get using Autostakkert and photoshop or autostakkert and registax.
This is actually the stacked image with no work as all the work I've done following tutorials makes it look like unmitigated s**t.


Still, with failures comes learning

[PKay (Peter)]

Hi Jeff

Yes you can see that it is Jupiter, and so a good start!
It is a big learning curve requiring lots of research.

Enjoy the journey.

Peter

[Saturnine (Jeff)]

Hi Jeff
To try and give some guidance to help you on your way first we need to know what scope and mount you are using. What focal length is the refractor and is it an achromat or apochromat. I'm assuming from the colour fringing in your image that it is an achromat.
Another question is, are you sure the file size of the video was 22 Gb for 975 frames, that's more than would seem possible, what resolution were you imaging at. From the specs I've seen of that camera, there is several resolutions that are available. For planetary imaging I would recommend using 640 X 480, that should work out to be something about 1Gb per 1000 frames at 30 frames per second , the stated speed of the camera at that resolution according to their specs.
The faster the frame rate you can use will help in getting some % of frames that have captured steady seeing moments that you can then stack and process. I would also recommend capturing about 4000 / 6000 frames to start with as a video file size, remembering that with Jupiter imaging for more than 4 or 5 mins then brings its rotation into the mix and that will start to affect image sharpness. Will leave Winjupos for another time and more advanced techniques, if you get more serious.
If you are using an achromat , it would be worthwhile investing in a Minus Violet Filter or at the very least a pale yellow, no. 12 filter or an UV / IR cut filter to help tame the colour fringing. It goes without saying that careful attention to focusing is a must and a steady mount is a necessity.
At least you're off and running and it can only get better from here, carry on and enjoy the ride.

Cheers
Jeff.

[xa-coupe (Jeff)]

Thanks Peter and Jeff,
in complete ignorance I got this thing because it is a 12mp sensor, believing it to be better the same way that terrestrial photography tends to be better with a bigger sensor (notwithstanding skill or lack of). Reading since then I have got a better understanding of how it all works and that bigger isn't always better. Having said that, I did expect better than what I got given the video itself is as good as some I have seen that have got reasonable results.... well, apparently it isn't that good but looked okay. One day when I feel I have the basics sorted, I will look at a ZWO or similar and get something a little less 'beginner'.



There is a slight backstory.. I was up country in a low light pollution area and had my newish mount (neq6 pro) and just couldn't get the thing to perform (due to my lack of knowledge as I've sorted the issue now) and saw Jupiter and Saturn so I decided to try the 205 ... it filled the HDD of my laptop and caused it to lock up. I may not have got any of the still pictures I wanted but I showed some friends Jupiter and Saturn and we were all pretty excited at that!



I'm still pretty happy, a few months ago I would never have thought I could get footage of planets, pictures of nebulae or a better appreciation for our cosmos... all from my back deck in suburbia.



Jeff